Something Soft for Sprout

My son, Scott, called this afternoon and invited The Love and me for dinner tomorrow night. Yummy! I have the stack of burp cloths & receiving blankets to take to Scott & Sara and I figured I might as well whip up the Minkee blanket I was planning to make. 

Sara is planning a jungle theme for the nursery. When I saw this fabric at Jackman's Fabrics a couple of weeks ago, I just had to buy it. The fabric is so-o-o soft. What baby wouldn't want to be wrapped up in so much softness? I hope S&S like it. 

A Friday Fabric Field Trip

I don't know where this week went, but I didn't accomplish much in the sewing studio. I did go fabric shopping though. 


A friend emailed me Thursday and invited me to go to Jackman's Fabrics on Friday. Big sale! We went to the location in Fairview Heights IL. I had never been there and fell in love. The store is laid out differently than the Missouri store I usually shop at. I don't understand why simply arranging the store differently would make such a big difference, but it did. So with the help of my friend, Aline, here is what I came home with. 

I am going to use these fabrics to make the book cover shown below. I had the 3 fabrics on the left in my stash. No clue where I got them or when. I didn't really care for the brown piece at the bottom. I know that it "goes" with the blue and the oriental print, but it just didn't sit right with me. So I found the brown (upper right) and the "light" fabric (lower right). With the 2 additional fabrics, I liked the original brown better and will use it in the book cover. 

So this project is pretty "quilty" for me, the die-hard I-don't-quilt seamstress. But, we made some of these Friendship Triangles at a recent ASG neighborhood meeting. I was really taken with them--to the point that I purchased the book. I want to make a cover for my Bible. So now that I have a good mix of fabrics I will be starting this after I finish my blue rayon slacks. 

I also purchased these 2 coordinating fabrics for a future project. 

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

And my final purchase opens up a real can of worms. 

 I saw these Calendar Quilts hanging on the wall and fell in love with them. I asked my friend, Aline, if she thought I could do these. She was so realistic. She told me that, yes, I could do them, but I would need to learn to machine quilt, whether it was free form or follow a pattern. The designs are appliqued and most of them are fairly simple. A couple are more complex, but they are all so lovely I couldn't resist. This long-range project will teach me new skills and I'm excited about that. 


So that's my shopping trip. It was wonderful!

Love/Hate Relationships

I made my list. I checked it twice. But when I walked in the door to Jackman's Fabrics this morning the list (mostly) walked right back out the door. Right there, front & center, smacking me in the face were the two cutest little girl outfits! (And, I do have the cutest little princess for a granddaughter.) I have a love/hate relationship with this store. I love the fabric and the super-wide selection of books and independent patterns, but their fabrics are a little pricey. So I shop their judiciously, especially these days.

So here is what I got for my hard earned money today:

From The List: purple Minkee for a scarf for oldest DGD and the book Sew Easy Pajama Pants to make the same DGD a pair of pajama pants for Christmas.





The rest of The List consisted of 4 pieces of knit ribbing for some tops I planned to make for youngest DGS. Instead I was thrown off by these patterns from The Children's Corner: Robin's Little Jacket and Abbie. The Abbie outfit will be darling in pink & brown teeny-tiny polka dots for the top and brown pants. The Robin's Little Jacket is adorable with some red & black Scottie fabric for the jacket and black pants. The Store had a design sheet for adding a gathered peplum to the jacket with some really cute coordinating plaid fabric. And the pants are trimmed with Scottie fabric and red & black rick-rack. I'm pre-washing the fabric right now so I can get started on these projects tonight.





I also stopped at Hancock's to pick up some flannel for the pajama pants. I finally decided on a blue/pink big flowers print, but I think I am going to have to find a better source for flannel. I never did find the ribbing I was looking for. I have another Hancock's and a JoAnn's I can check out, but I may be looking for an online source that will ship quickly.